By Patricia Curtis, Reader's
Digest
Can't remember where you put
your glasses? Blanked on your new colleague's name? "Forgetting these
types of things is a sign of how busy we are," says Zaldy S. Tan, MD,
director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
in Boston. "When we're not paying good attention, the memories we form
aren't very robust, and we have a problem retrieving the information
later."
The key, says Harry Lorayne,
author of Ageless Memory: Simple Secrets for Keeping Your Brain Young, is to
get your brain in shape. "We exercise our bodies, but what good is that
great body if you don't have the mental capabilities to go with it?" Sure,
you could write everything down, keep organized lists and leave electronic
notes on your BlackBerry, cell phone or PDA. But when you don't have access to
those aids, or if you want to strengthen your brain, try these
expert-recommended strategies to help you remember.
Brain Freeze #1: "What the
heck is his name?"
• Pay attention. When you're
introduced to someone, really listen to the person's name. Then, to get a
better grasp, picture the spelling. Ask, "Is that Kathy with a K or a
C?" Make a remark about the name to help lock it in ("Oh,
Carpenter--that was my childhood best friend's last name"), and use the
name a few times during the conversation and when you say goodbye.
• Visualize the name. For
hard-to-remember monikers (Bentavegna, Wobbekind), make the name meaningful.
For Bentavegna, maybe you think of a bent weather vane. Picture it. Then look
at the person, choose an outstanding feature (bushy eyebrows, green eyes) and
tie the name to the face. If Mr. Bentavegna has a big nose, picture a bent
weather vane instead of his nose. The sillier the image, the better.
• Create memorable associations.
Picture Joe Everett standing atop Mount Everest. If you want to remember that
Erin Curtis is the CEO of an architectural firm, imagine her curtsying in front
of a large building, suggests Gini Graham Scott, PhD, author of 30 Days to a
More Powerful Memory.
• Cheat a little. Supplement
these tips with some more concrete actions. When you get a business card, after
the meeting, jot down a few notes on the back of the card ("red glasses,
lives in Springfield, went to my alma mater") to help you out when you
need a reminder.
Brain Freeze #2: "Where in
the world did I leave my glasses?"
• Give a play-by-play. Pay
attention to what you're doing as you place your glasses on the end table.
Remind yourself, "I'm putting my keys in my coat pocket," so you have
a clear memory of doing it, says Scott.
• Make it a habit. Put a small
basket on a side table. Train yourself to put your keys, glasses, cell phone or
any other object you frequently use (or misplace) in the basket--every time.
Brain Freeze #3: "What else
was I supposed to do today?"
• Start a ritual. To remind
yourself of a chore (write a thank-you note, go to the dry cleaner), give
yourself an unusual physical reminder. You expect to see your bills on your
desk, so leaving them there won't necessarily remind you to pay them. But place
a shoe or a piece of fruit on the stack of bills, and later, when you spot the
out-of-place object, you'll remember to take care of them, says Carol
Vorderman, author of Super Brain: 101 Easy Ways to a More Agile Mind.
• Sing it. To remember a small
group of items (a grocery list, phone number, list of names, to-do list), adapt
it to a well-known song, says Vorderman. Try "peanut butter, milk and
eggs" to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,"
"Happy Birthday" or even nursery rhymes.
• Try mnemonic devices. Many of
us learned "ROY G BIV" to remember the colors of the rainbow, or
"Every Good Boy Deserves Favors" to learn musical notes. Make up your
own device to memorize names (Suzanne's kids are Adam, Patrick and Elizabeth,
or "APE"), lists (milk, eggs, tomatoes, soda, or "METS") or
computer commands (to shut down your PC, hit Control+Alt+Delete, or
"CAD").
• Use your body. When you have
no pen or paper and are making a mental grocery or to-do list, remember it
according to major body parts, says Scott. Start at your feet and work your way
up. So if you have to buy glue, cat food, broccoli, chicken, grapes and
toothpaste, you might picture your foot stuck in glue, a cat on your knee
looking for food, a stalk of broccoli sticking out of your pants pocket, a
chicken pecking at your belly button, a bunch of grapes hanging from your chest
and a toothbrush in your mouth.
• Go Roman. With the Roman room
technique, you associate your grocery, to-do or party-invite list with the
rooms of your house or the layout of your office, garden or route to work.
Again, the zanier the association, the more likely you'll remember it, says
Scott. Imagine apples hanging from the chandelier in your foyer, spilled cereal
all over the living room couch, shampoo bubbles overflowing in the kitchen sink
and cheese on your bedspread.
Brain Freeze #4: "What's my
password for this website?"
• Shape your numbers. Assign a
shape to each number: 0 looks like a ball or ring; 1 is a pen; 2 is a swan; 3
looks like handcuffs; 4 is a sailboat; 5, a pregnant woman; 6, a pipe; 7, a
boomerang; 8, a snowman; and 9, a tennis racket. To remember your ATM PIN
(4298, say), imagine yourself on a sailboat (4), when a swan (2) tries to
attack you. You hit it with a tennis racket (9), and it turns into a snowman
(8). Try forgetting that image!
• Rhyme it. Think of words that
rhyme with the numbers 1 through 9 (knee for 3, wine for 9, etc.). Then create
a story using the rhyming words: A nun (1) in heaven (7) banged her knee (3),
and it became sore (4).
Brain Freeze #5: "The word
is on the tip of my tongue."
• Practice your ABCs. Say you
just can't remember the name of that movie. Recite the alphabet (aloud or in
your head). When you get to the letter R, it should trigger the name that's
escaping you: Ratatouille. This trick works when taking tests too.
Brain Freeze #6: "I just
can't memorize anything anymore!"
• Read it, type it, say it, hear
it. To memorize a speech, toast or test material, read your notes, then type
them into the computer. Next, read them aloud and tape-record them. Listen to
the recording several times. As you work on memorizing, remember to turn off
the TV, unplug your iPod and shut down your computer; you'll retain more.
• Use color. Give your notes
some color with bolded headings and bulleted sections (it's easier to remember
a red bullet than running text).
• Make a map. Imagine an
intersection and mentally place a word, fact or number on each street corner.
